Top Republicans Grill FBI Director Wray over Taxpayer-Funded Vacation Travel
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Top-ranking House Republicans said in a letter Monday that they intend to investigate FBI Director Christopher Wray’s alleged taxpayer-funded plane travel to his New York vacation home for potential ethical and financial misconduct.
Representatives Elise Stefanik, Chair of the House Republican Conference, James Comer, House Committee on Oversight and Reform Ranking Member, and Mike Turner, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Ranking Member co-signed the letter.
“We write to conduct oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) use of Government aircraft and compliance with the applicable Federal regulations and requirements,” reads the letter, first obtained by Fox News. “We have questions about whether you are properly reimbursing federal taxpayers for your personal travel aboard government aircraft.”
Last week, Wray cut his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee short, claiming he had a plane to catch. Flight logs reviewed by the New York Post show he embarked on a trip to the Adirondacks, his favorite vacation destination, later that afternoon via the FBI’s luxury Gulfstream jet, initially intended for counterterrorism use.
During the hearing, Senator Chuck Grassley expressed confusion over Wray’s sudden departure.
“We just heard a half hour ago about you having to leave at 1:30. We were going to have seven minutes [each] for first round [questions and] three-minute second rounds. I’ve got seven people on my side of the aisle want their additional three minutes. Is there any reason we couldn’t accommodate them for 21 minutes?,” Grassley asked.
“Senator, I had a flight that I’m supposed to be high-tailing it to outta here, and I had understood that we were going to be done at 1:30, so that’s how we ended up where we are,” Wray replied.
This was not the director’s first round-trip getaway using the FBI plane. On June 2, the plane traveled to Saranac Lake on June 2 and returned to Washington, D.C. on June 5. Wray is required to reimburse the cost of a coach class airline fare when the plane is used for personal trips, but it costs several thousand dollars per hour to operate the Gulfstream, the paper noted.
“Although certain federal officials are permitted to use government aircraft for personal or political use, these expenses must be reimbursed. According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), past FBI directors have used government aircraft for personal use as is permissible,” the House GOP letter states. “These former officials reimbursed federal taxpayers at the commercial rate, which can be thousands of dollars less than the actual cost of operating the government aircraft. Reimbursement payments for personal travel are made to the FBI Finance Division, which in turn deposits the funds to the Department of the Treasury.”
Government plane travel is authorized for “official purposes” and can only be used for informal travel when no commercial air is available or would cost more, according to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidance, Fox News noted.
The House Republicans are requesting Wray’s travel records and cost accounting to taxpayers by an August 29 deadline.
